


The Great Bear and the New moon

by thesameguest



Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018)
Genre: Canon Zee deserves a nice and not-insane partner and some TLC, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Sorry-no Spellcest implied in this one, pure fluff, these witches need a break
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:33:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22543324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesameguest/pseuds/thesameguest
Summary: I feel like CAoS is going too fast and our beloved witches have no time to process all the chaos involving them.So I placed these two in the garden and just let them talk to each other, because I really wanted them to.This is an ideal mini-sequel to my other fic "Daughter of the Night".Disclaimer: not a native speaker, bear with me.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 29





	The Great Bear and the New moon

Fall and winter agreed with Zelda Spellman the most, but the May breeze at night and silence were something she could appreciate nonetheless, especially while enjoying the company of her loyal whisky decanter. She had opted for giving a damn about etiquette and crouching down on the grass, just a few steps outside the porch. Sitting on the moist earth, under the moonlight gave her a feeble, yet slightly comforting sensation of being somehow grounded. The security of gravity still holding her in her place.

Just a few months had shaken her life to its roots more than any World war or revolution had in the last two centuries. Some of her core beliefs, the pillars she had been founding on all of her life had been brushed violently away. Things were changing so fast that she barely had the time to recover between an eartquake and the other, and and her family was far beyond the definition of “out of control”. The last few weeks had been an emotional tornado, one that she would need a long time to really absorb. And yet, there she was. Messy, sleep deprived and the authority figure for a bunch of young witches. Uncertain about her literal next step and the head of a new coven. Shocked under her cool surface, and yet powerful, excited as if she were standing on a cliff edge, looking at an unknown, beautiful land yet to be explored.

Marie’s presence, her energy played a part in this, no doubt. Such a long time, too long, had passed since she had last caressed the curves and edges of a feminine body, worshipped a goddess made of flesh and bone in the intimacy of her bedroom. Marie was a breath of fresh air, one that still left her wordless, in fear of ruining everything or seeing her lover being crumbled by the next demon or vindictive god passing through Greendale, for that matter.  
Having her family members together again, alive and well and possibly closer to each other than ever, was what gave her most relief. She was aware of the precariousness of it. Things would change again, soon. She would not be able to bridle Hilda or Ambrose any further from pursuing what was next in their paths, and Sabrina was a loose cannon. Her beloved loose cannon she could no longer control and protect as she would have liked to, although some of her most intense glares still held the power to make the girl squirm, just a little.

A huge work to carry on, lots of doubts and potential mistakes were ahead of her, and still the vision Edward had led her to see in the nether realm had touched her deeply and given her an underlying sense of peace that she had never experienced before. She still had time left. Time enough to build and strengthen her coven, to leave her mark, to walk on this new path she had chosen. Time to walk beside her loved ones, to see Sabrina grow into a woman, knowing that she would never, never lose her, or Hilda. Time to learn how to let go some of her worst fears. And avoid being overbearing towards the people she loved most because of them.

She had briefly close her eyes, lost in her thoughts, when a weight plopped on the grass beside her. She didn’t need to open her eyes to recognise her niece.  
“What the heaven are you doing here, now?” she murmured in a very weak imitation of a scolding tone.

“Couldn’t sleep. Again. And I saw the smoke of your cigarettes rise from my window, so I guessed you couldn’t either”. The older witch answered with a non commitmental ‘hum’.  
“You know, if this was a TV show or a fanfiction my line would be like, I just needed a glass of water, and then we’d have a long mother-daughter trauma- debriefing conversation and process our feelings and stuff” Sabrina rattled off with a small laugh.

“Fanf- what?” was her aunt’s skeptical reply.

“Never mind. I just came to crush your little moment of nighttime peace, like in the old days” the girl gingerly answered, while turning her gaze away.

The truth was, both Zelda and her sister were aware of the amount of time their niece had been spending glued to their hips recently. Hilda had voiced with her trademark empathy and grace what Zelda had just been thinking. “She just went through a big scare, love. Not talking of the Apocalypse right now. We both have been at death’s door just a couple weeks ago. The poor lamb may be Satan’s heir but she’s still, you know… a 16-year-old child who was already orphaned once”. It made sense – even Ambrose had been goofing around them a little more these days in his adorable way - and neither of them was really surprised of Sabrina’s current mood and behaviour, although they made Zelda suspect, at the same time, that the next disaster was just around the corner.

“I don’t mind you bothering me while I seek in vain some peace, but I expect you to be punctual at class tomorrow morning. We’re going to practise advanced defense spells” Zelda said, laying her gaze fondly on the girl. “I have to be in Baxter High tomorrow, Auntie. Biology test, the last one this semester” was the girl’s quick reply. Her multiple agendas were starting to get really hectic these days.

Zelda sighed, trying and almost succeeding to avoid sarcasm. “Of course you have to” she replied, slightly annoyed.  
Sabrina sighed too. “Yes, I do, Auntie. Don’t you think this whole thing is becoming kind of a conflict of interests? I mean, you being my teacher and principal at the Academy, my spiritual leader, besides…you know”. Her slighty over-demanding guardian? Her de-facto-parent whose appraisal was still important to her, although she had zero problems with defying her expectations? 

“I’ll instigate Aunt Hilda’s advocacy skills if you want me to drop out of high school” she completed her sentence with a grin.  
The older witch just rolled her eyes – she had no real intention of interefering with her niece’s high school education, she never had, although her own lack of faith in it had always been more than clear. Sabrina smirked and snuggled herself a little closer to her aunt’s side with a slight shiver. Zelda's arm instantly circled her shoulder. The last thing they needed in their plate right now was the young witch catching a mortal flu, for Heaven's sake.

Sabrina closed her eyes, savouring the mixture of smells and quiet noises coming from the lawn and the nearby wood and the warmth of Zelda’s body next to her, her scent of cigarettes and sandalwood with a hint of alcohol virtually embracing her.  
She had been noticing a shift in her aunt lately. She was still all uptight and put together by day, but in moments like this she looked a little…wilder? The slightiest hint of disarray in her perfect hairstyle and the lack of make up, right now, strangely rendered her beautiful, moonlit features …more human, maybe? She looked tired, with a little wrinkle visible here and there. Sweeter than in daylight.  
This reminded her the side of Zelda she had been used to know as a child, when her older aunt tended to Sabrina’s needs most nights – due to her being a much lighter sleeper than Hilda – and the witchling playfully called her her Night mommy, since learning that Zelda was her Night Mother. This was the Aunt Zee who would always wrap tiny, whiny Sabrina in her arms after a nightmare. The one who sang her old sheep-related lullabies; the one who, later in time, read scary-but-not-too-much tales to her before going to sleep, and, in more recent years, confiscated her magically summoned flashlight whenever she found her reading after the witching hour in school nights. There was this secret softness that Sabrina knew but something else, too. She couldn’t grasp exactly the nature of the different energy she perceived around her aunt. Was Aunt Zee becoming more…like, in tune with her own nocturnal version?

“I missed you too, you know” the girl half-whispered after a while. “Not just because of all of this being-Quen-of-Hell thing and the Apocalypse and you and Aunt Hilda actually being in Limbo for a while...Not that that was a walk in the park, it was terrifying, but… All of these past months have been…strange, don’t you think?”.  
Zelda looked worriedly at the messy blond head nestled under her neck. She still found difficult to talk thoroughly about feelings (she mentally snorted at the mere idea of it), although she was really trying to do better with Sabrina in this regard. All those progressive parenting guides she had been reading through the years – accurately covered with fake Satanic-book-themed sleeves – had to be of some use, after all.  
Her sense of guilt for the poor choices she had made in the last few months was still lingering in her mind and they never really had a moment to…what had Sabrina said? Debrief? Stupid mortal gergo.

“I know, sweetheart. You’re not wrong. And I know part of it is my fault” Zelda’s soft, honest reply slightly surprised the girl, who raised her chin and opened her eyes to peer at the older woman’s face. “The whole marriage ordeal was a gigantic mistake. I was driven by ambition, of course, but I never meant to desert you, Sabrina. It was quite the opposite, I – I hoped my position would guarantee much more security and protection to our family in the long term. I thought I could still take care of you and see you and Ambrose every day even if I had to move in with…” even pronouncing his name disgusted her now. “Faustus”.

Sabrina looked intently at her. “I know, I mean…I get it now, I can imagine. But it didn’t feel like that back then. It felt like we were…” the girl trailed off “It felt like we were losing you. Like you decided to leave us in the blink of an eye.” Sabrina’s voice broke a little. “And it all was so sudden and chaotic then…My new powers, Ambrose’s imprisonment, the Caligari spell, Blackwood’s golpe. I wouldn’t like to go through all of that again.” 

“No, me neither” Zelda replied with a hint of fierceness. “Never. I’m sorry things didn’t go as planned, and I’m sorry I dismissed your concerns. When I realised they weren’t a sort of…temper tantrum of yours and that I should have paid attention to you, it was too late. I will always regret I didn’t” She added sadly while stroking Sabrina’s hair and shoulders. The young witch had slowly moved to place her head on Zelda’s lap, curling the rest of her body as close as possible to her aunt’s to stay ‘snug as a bug in a rug’, as Hilda would say, and look at the stars in the distance. Zelda took one of her niece’s hands in both of hers; Sabrina placed her free hand on her aunt's and squeezed them tightly. A comfortable silence fell while rational explanations were temporarily replaced by another language that never failed in bridging the gaps in their communication. 

“You don’t have to be too hard on yourself, Auntie” the girl replied, after a little while. “You made an error of judgement, and he put you under that horrible spell. As soon as you could, you came back to us and…jeez, you went all mama bear against Satan for me. You put me above your faith – I mean, you already did other times, but trying to kill Lucifer was huge – and I will never doubt you again. I know I’ve got you – I’ve got my whole family – in my corner. And I hope you know that…you’ve got me in yours, as much as a hell-raiser you may think I am” she added earnestly, looking at Zelda in her eyes, to find them a little misty. It didn’t surprise her at all – her auntie’s tough façade would rapidly fade whenever she let her walls down with Sabrina.

“As I said before, well, dying” Zelda proposed gently, after gathering her composure “We need to start talking again. Talking before major decision are made or life threats loom over us. I promise I won’t criticise every single idea you bring up or yell at you for every initiative you take” she added curving up a corner of her mouth. “Most of them are reckless, but some of them are not. I will try listening more. This requires honesty from both sides, though. No more big secrets, Your Majesty” The redhead concluded, bending to meet the girl’s gaze and seeing her cheeks instantly redden under the moonlight. Of course she was planning some other disaster. Hopefully a non-Hell-related one, but you never knew with Sabrina.

“Yep. No more taking on royal responsibilities without your explicit consent, Aunt Zee.” the younger witch answered, suddenly feeling the weight of her secret ‘double Sabrina’ trick. Well, technically that wasn’t her. “Or getting married to a stranger I just met or starting a business or stuff like that” she added playfully to divert Zelda’s attention from Hell.  
“Talking of strangers…Are you still in…non-speaking terms with Mr. Scratch?” the redhead asked, trying to sound casual. “Looking dramatically at each other across the Academy halls like star-crossed lovers?”  
Sabrina just shrugged from her lap. 

“Is that one of the reasons you’re spending so much time at home lately? We’re starting to wonder why you’re not somewhere else causing havoc with your friends, you know.”

The teen sighed and mumbled “It’s not just about Nick. I’m…not in the mood to go out a lot after everything that’s been going on.”

“Mmh. That doesn’t sound like you, Sabrina. It is all right to dedicate yourself to some…futile, mortal, non-apocaliptic nonsense with your friends every now and then, besides studying. Although as your headmistress I shouldn’t be the one to suggest that” the older witch proposed, with a smirk, before adding, more seriously “You don’t have to keep guard over your Aunt Hilda and me, in case that’s part of the problem. We’re perfectly capable of looking after ourselves and we all need to go back to some kind of normality. I know we all got more than a fright lately, but we need to move on. You don’t have to let fear holding you back. We’re not going anywhere.”

Sabrina looked at her with dubious puppy eyes that reminded Zelda an even younger version of her niece. “I wish I could believe that, Auntie.” she replied with a small voice.  
“You’ll have to trust your High Priestess.” Zelda answered feigning an offended tone, causing the girl to let out a small, sleepy smile. “Slash my…yadda yadda yadda Night mom?” she replied softly. “Exactly” Zelda smiled fondly.

“Said that, your yadda yadda is ordering you to go to bed now, because it’s really late even for royalty”, the redhead stated, patting the girl’s hip.  
“Just five more minutes” Sabrina complained “Unless you want to get rid of me now because Marie is waiting for you upstairs” she added jokingly, grinning at Zelda.  
“That’s none of your business, young lady” the older witch smirked in a semi-stern tone.  
“I’ll be gone in a second if that’s the case. I like Marie way, waaay more than your previous fiancé. I don’t intend to boycott your relationship this time” Sabrina replied impishly “I really like seeing you happy”.

Zelda rolled playfully her eyes while ruffling the teen’s curls.  
“We’ll see about that”. She didn’t want to allow herself too much optimism, but maybe – just maybe – she hadn’t failed Sabrina that much, and things would start to settle for the best with this new moon.


End file.
